This invention relates to the formulation and method of using an effective amount of a compound, or ligand, or chemical agent, that acts on cannabinoidergic systems, or a mixture containing the compound, optionally combined with a carrier, to effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria, the formation of biofilm, or both.
In the United States, drug-resistant bacteria are the leading cause of death due to infection. In fact, the number of annual deaths due to common drug-resistant bacteria surpasses those due to smoking and tobacco. Staphylococcus aureus bacteria infections are the source of a number of potentially lethal diseases affecting skin, lung, and blood and whose courses and symptoms depend upon the tissue that becomes infected. While skin infections, including sites of surgery, are quite common and sometimes deadly, the most lethal, and for this reason the best known, are pneumonia due to infection of the lungs or severe sepsis (septic shock) due to infection of the blood. Resistance to antibiotics is a cause for major concern for a number of infectious bacterial strains, and chief amongst them is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. 
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (“MRSA”) strains account for most hospital-acquired and nursing home-acquired infections and they are a leading cause of mortality due to infection. They are also a leading cause of close quarter community-acquired infections impacting children in daycare centers, members of sports teams, military personnel, and prisoners. The instances of serious MRSA infection in the US has mushroomed in the past decade to the point where the rate of invasive MRSA exceeds the combined rate of invasive infections due to pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, group A streptococcus, and Haemophilus influenza. While overall incidents of MRSA are relatively low, the risk of death from an MRSA infection is very high, as is the cost associated with treatment.
As the infection rate increases, there have actually been fewer unique classes of drugs introduced to combat these infections. Given that only two new antibiotic pharmacophores have been introduced into the clinic over the last 30 plus years (Barrett 2003; Pucci 2006) locating structurally and/or mechanistically novel antimicrobial approaches is of considerable interest. This is especially true given that antibiotic resistance is on the rise (Levy 2004) and the fact that large drug companies are increasingly less interested in supporting antimicrobial discovery programs (Projan 2003). Innovative ways to prevent MRSA infections are clearly needed.
Lipophilic fractions isolated from leaves of Cannabis sativa have been shown to have antimicrobial activity (Wasim 1995). Isolated components of Cannabis, such as cannabichromene, cannabigeral, and cannabidiol and delta-9-THC, have also been reported to have antimicrobial activity (Van Klingeren 1976; Turner 1981; Elsohly 1982).